Julianne,I write as I wipe tears away. What a beautiful tribute to the quilter, as well as a fine piece from which one can gain inspiration, Both the quilt and the sentiments are works of art. I have a feeling, like the fine handwork that inspired it, the eloquent words of your post will be read 75 years from now with the same admiration as the viewer of the quilt feels gazing upon bits of beautiful cloth and tiny fine stiches, expertly pieced together. Thank you.

You might read "The Quilt" on a dying woman's desire to create one last thing of beauty. She was joined by others in the project.The thing of beauty was group which was created. The group then completed the quilt.There are so very many ways to stitch our lives to others, if we only pause to do so.

Hi JulianneYesterday, I spent about three hours reading your blog. The time I invested reading was worth every minute of it. I started from the very beginning, to your October 2006 post, and moved upward. I am already in the 2010 chapter of your story, but it will take me some time to finish all 145 posts for that year. But I will come back. At many points in your writing, I couldn't help but shed tears of joy. We have never met, and we come from different continents, but we love and serve the same God, His Son, and Holy Spirit. What joy it is to visit here and stay a while. Now when I come over I feel like visiting a friend, and not a stranger. Did I tell you before that I also have one daughter, and her name is Anna Grace.

God loves you!

...and is pleased with you because you are his child.

Not because of anything you do, how well you keep house, how good your kids are, how gifted or skilled you are. I encourage you to be still. Quietly slow down your pace, enjoying the beauty in each moment. Make the eternal your priority, your focus.